Pirate base

A Pirate base is a Station subtype owned by pirate factions — vanilla has Scavenger (“Riptide” in the UI; class.argon primary race) and Fallen Families (class.fallensplit). Pirate bases are the black-market entry points: they sell illegal wares, accept stolen cargo, and host illegal-mod NPCs (Boso Ta types, item traders).

This page documents Pirate-base-specific behavior. For all general station behavior (creation, ownership, hull, dockingbays, events), see the parent Station page.

Identification

Flag	Meaning
.ispiratebase	This station is a pirate base

The flag is set per-macro at construction — pirate_* macros from libraries/stationgroups.xml carry it.

Riptide vs Fallen Families (common confusion):

Faction	Internal name	Primary race	DLC
Riptide (UI name)	faction.scavenger	Argon	Pirate DLC
Fallen Families	faction.fallensplit	Split	Split Vendetta DLC

Vanilla MD scripts use faction.scavenger for Riptide checks. Don’t write faction.fallensplit expecting Riptide content.

Properties (pirate-base-relevant)

All accessors live on the parent station datatype (scriptproperties.xml:848). There is no separate piratebase datatype.

Property	Type	Description
.ispiratebase	bool	Currently a pirate base
.shadyguy	entity	Black-market dealer NPC (specific to pirate bases and player HQ)
.tradenpc	entity	Regular trade NPC (may stock illegal wares here)

Pirate bases inherit all station properties. They’re typically also equipment docks or trade stations under the hood — combine flag checks if you need more specificity.

Common pirate-base-relevant patterns

”Find a pirate base in this sector"

<find_station_by_true_owner name="$Stations"
    space="$Sector"
    multiple="true"/>

<set_value name="$Pirate" exact="null"/>

<do_for_each name="$station" in="$Stations">
    <do_if value="$station.ispiratebase">
        <set_value name="$Pirate" exact="$station"/>
        <break/>
    </do_if>
</do_for_each>

"Trigger combat-flavoured offer at this pirate base”

<set_value name="$Chance_Fight"
    exact="$Chance_High"
    chance="100 * $OfferObject.ispiratebase"/>

Pattern from vanilla genericmissions.xml:314 — pirate bases bias mission offers toward fight tasks.

”Sell stolen wares here”

<do_if value="$DropOff.ispiratebase">
    <!-- pirate base accepts illegal wares this faction marks legal -->
    <!-- (illegality is per-faction, not absolute) -->
</do_if>

Pattern from gmc_retrieve_dead_drop.xml:2295.

”Player just captured a pirate base”

<cue name="WatchPiratePirate" instantiate="true">
    <conditions>
        <event_object_changed_owner/>
        <check_value
            value="event.object.ispiratebase
                and event.param == faction.player"/>
    </conditions>
    <actions>
        <write_to_logbook
            text="'Player captured pirate base: '
                + event.object.knownname"/>
    </actions>
</cue>

Pirate-relevant NPC: shadyguy

The .shadyguy accessor returns the black-market dealer NPC. Vanilla npc_itemtrader.xml:41 checks $actor.container.ispiratebase to route which NPC dialogue tree to load. The shadyguy:

• Sells illegal-to-other-factions wares.
• Offers buy orders for stolen cargo.
• Hosts mod-part trades in some DLC.

To add a custom illegal ware to a pirate base’s inventory:

<add_inventory
    ware="$myIllegalWare"
    exact="50"
    entity="$PirateBase.shadyguy"/>

The player gets access through dialogue when docked.

Common gotchas

• ⚠ Riptide ≠ Fallen Families. faction.scavenger (Riptide, Argon primary race) and faction.fallensplit (Fallen Families, Split primary race) are different factions with separate stations. Don’t confuse them — Riptide is from Pirate DLC, Fallen Families from Split Vendetta.
• ⚠ .ispiratebase doesn’t imply illegal-ware stock. It’s a station-type flag, not a content guarantee. Check .shadyguy.inventory for actual illegal-ware availability.
• ⚠ Pirate bases can be .istradestation simultaneously. Some pirate bases double as trade stations for their faction. Combine flags as needed.
• ⚠ Pirate base macros may be DLC-gated. Referencing macro.pirate_* macros directly in scripts fails on Base installs. Wrap DLC content with availability checks.
• ⚠ Illegality is per-faction, not absolute. A ware illegal to Argon may be legal to Scavenger — that’s why pirate bases can list it. Check $ware.illegalto.{$faction} for the actual rule.
• ⚠ .ispiratebase is FALSE for ordinary Scavenger / Fallen Families stations. Not all stations of a “pirate” faction are pirate bases. The flag is set only on the specific pirate-base macro line.

Architectural context

• How pirate factions place new bases: Architectural overview Faction economy — pirate bases are placed in poorly-policed sectors, near smuggling routes.
• Illegal ware trading: Architectural overview Ware legality system — illegalto.{faction}.{faction} matrix, licence-driven exceptions, faction-relative legality.
• Buccaneer story arc: Architectural overview Buccaneers story — story_buccaneers.xml revolves around event.param.parent.ispiratebase filtering.

Related

• Station — parent abstraction.
• Faction — faction.scavenger, faction.fallensplit.
• Trade station — sibling; some pirate bases double as trade stations.
• Equipment dock — sibling; some pirate bases install equipment.
• NPC — .shadyguy is the black-market dealer.
• Ware — illegal wares are the pirate-base specialty.

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Pattern — IS-A subtype

Same pattern as Shipyard / Wharf / Equipment dock — this page only documents Pirate-base-specific behavior. General station behavior lives on Station.